Before receiving the request to premiere Rikki Blu’s ‘Pickup’, we’d seen the Pleasant Grove-native rapper pop up in our explore pages on Instagram. Little did we know we had been following someone who works with him. Today, GRUNGECAKE has the exclusive for the rapper’s first release since the 2018 Doomsday Cypher with Sway that aired in January. With sixty bucks to his name and a one-way ticket to Los Angeles, he went West to make his dreams come true. In an interview with the Dallas Observer, he shared that his hometown was so rough, everywhere else is a piece of cake for him.

As sad as this may sound, it is a reality for so many artists looking to breakthrough. Most times, it takes this level of need/hunger to mark your territory in the world, let alone, the music industry. And Rikki Blu has been trying. From “The Grove” to New York City, Atlanta, Nashville, and Los Angeles, he has either lived in or travelled to every “music city” there is, but he is back in the city where it all started for him.

Putting “the shit” on his mama has nothing to do with America’s Sunday festivities. Instead, he is just saying that he can back up what he’s saying in the record.

What inspired me to make this song, of course, showing love to my mama and wanting to make her proud, but at the same time, the dichotomy, you know… growing up in an environment where your house getting ran through, only to grow up and find yourself doing the same shit.

Again, ‘Pickup’ is the first record Rikki Blu has released since his appearance on Sway’s Doomsday Cypher, which premiered at the beginning of the year. Standing at 6’7″ tall, he probably has seen more than us as a kid and as an adult. Listen to the CXXNO-produced record above. It’s short, but it is good. Since you’re here, have a look at Rikki Blu on Sway’s programming.